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Manchestor bomber's father, brother arrested in Tripoli

Police have made a number of arrests in connection with the Manchester concert bombing. Here's the latest. 

<p>MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 23: Members of the public lay flowers in St Ann Square on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 in Manchester,England. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)</p>

The father and a brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi have been arrested in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, authorities in the beleaguered African nation said Thursday.

Police have detained a total of eight people in connection to the attack and said they were investigating a "network" as the probe intensified into the suicide bombing at a pop concert that killed 22 people and wounded scores more, many critically.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the sophistication of the attack Monday at Manchester Arena indicate Abedi, 22, likely did not act alone. Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said officers have been carrying out "extensive searches" across the city. The latest arrests came one day after the suspected bomber's older brother, Ismail, was taken into custody.

"I think it is very clear that this is a network we are investigating," Hopkins said. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack but that assertion has not been verified.

Monday's blast rocked the arena as a concert by American pop idol Ariana Grande was wrapping up. Children as young as 8 years old and an off-duty police officer were among those killed. Almost 1,000 military personnel were deployed Wednesday to protect public sites and key landmarks, major airports and transportation hubs and large concert venues in cities from Belfast to Birmingham.

One of the arrests Wednesday was made in Wigan, about 20 miles west of Manchester, and police said they were assessing a package the suspect was carrying. The Telegraph was among outlets reporting that Abedi's younger brother and father have been arrested in Libya, citing security officials there.

Ramadan Abedi, 51, has denied his son was the bomber. Ramadan Abedi also denied reports that Ramadan was a member of an al-Qaeda-backed militant group in the 1990s, telling the Associated Press that "killing innocents ... is not us."

The elder Abedi was born in Libya but fled under fear of arrest by the brutal regime of Moammar Gadhafi in 1993. He won asylum in Britain, where his sons were born. Abedi later returned to Libya and works as an administrator for the government, which has been in disarray since Gadhafi was toppled in 2011.

Salman Abedi's younger brother, Hisham, was detained by security forces in Tripoli on Tuesday. Salman Abedi had recently spent three weeks in Libya, returning to Britain within days of the attack, U.S. Africa Command confirmed.

"Details on the purpose of that trip remain unknown," the command said in a statement.

Burnage Academy for Boys, in South Manchester, confirmed he attended classes there between 2009 and 2011. "We are a Manchester school. We feel the pain that Manchester feels," the school said in a statement Wednesday.

Hamid El-Sayed, who worked for the United Nations on curbing radicalization and is now at Manchester University, told the BBC that Abedi had a "really bad relationship" with his family.

"Eventually he was doing very bad at his university, at his education, and he didn't complete, and they tried to take him back to Libya several times," El-Sayed said. "He had difficulties adjusting to European lifestyle."

The extra security measures follow Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to raise the country's terror threat level from "severe" to "critical," the highest it's been since 2007, meaning that further attacks could be imminent. The government did not specify how many troops were being deployed.

The Changing of the Guard, an ornate military pageant that is a popular draw for tourists at Buckingham Palace in London, was canceled to allow police officers to be deployed elsewhere. Britain's Parliament, close to where five people were killed in a terror attack in March, said it was closed to the public "until further notice" because of the heightened threat level.

A man with a knife was arrested near Buckingham Palace on Wednesday but police said the incident was not believed to be terror-related.

In London, recently crowned Premier League soccer champion Chelsea Football Club canceled plans for a victory parade scheduled for Sunday. "In light of these tragic events, we feel it is inappropriate to go ahead with the victory parade in London," the club said in a statement.

Police in high-visibility yellow jackets patrolled virtually every street in Manchester's city center Wednesday. There was no immediate sign of the military.

A few small memorials sprang up near the town hall, where flowers, candles and small notes of condolence had been left. One makeshift sign read "ISIS cowards." Another said "Manchester: home to solidarity."

Mancunians, a proud population, were united in grief and vowed not to be cowed by the threat of violence or further attacks.

"These attacks are not only directed at the people who are physically there but also on the community spirit," said Tahir Mahmood, a web developer, who is Muslim. The last census in 2011 showed 79,496 Muslims in Manchester, making up 15.8% of the city’s population.

Mahmood, who also works as a community organizer trying to improve relations between the city's different faith groups, said that attacks of this kind tend to drive people together, not apart.

Hospitals across Manchester were still treating the wounded, including 12 under the age of 16. Police said all those killed had been identified and released some of the names. Others could be withheld for several days.

Among those we know: Saffie Rose Roussos, 8, was described by a teacher at Tarleton Community Primary School, about 40 miles north of Manchester, as a "beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word, a girl with a "creative flair" whose "warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly."

Georgina Callander, 15, once posted a picture of herself posing alongside Grande on Instagram and tweeted to her idol Monday: "So EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW." Kelly Brewster, 32, "heroically shielded" her 11-year-old niece from the blast, her uncle said.

Bacon reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara.

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